Prefabricated building structure



1941- R. T. HULSLANDER 2,252,563 4 PREFABRICATED BUILDING STRUCTURE Filed June 30, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l Fig.1

20 11v VENTOR BY Ross T-HULSL HNDER i g A 170K253 Aug. 12, 1941. R. T. HULSLANDER 2,252,568

I PREFABHICATED BUILDING STRUCTURE Filed June 30, 193.9 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR R055 T HULSL A NDER Patented Aug. 12, 1941 PREFABRICATED BUILDING STRUC IURE Ross T. Hulslandcr, Birmingham, Ala.

Application June 30, 1939, Serial No. 282,115

6 Claims.

My invention relates to prefabricated building construction, wherein wall units, complete with both exterior and interior finish, are adapted to be interlocked and clamped together by metallic splines driven down vertically through grooves formed in the meeting end edges of units.

' My invention takes advantage of the fact that the splines can be placed to interlock wall sections without disturbance of the wall finish, whereby the wall units can be prefabricated so as to form, when assembled, the interior and exterior wall finish complete throughout the house.

My invention contemplates the use of standard sections or shapes to form the metal splines, which are preferably of such design that may be used singly or in pairs, as desired, to form the various joints required in the assembling of walls and partitions.

' It is a distinctive feature of my invention that the splines may be made fast below to the building foundation, as by being connected thereto by anchor means, and may also be interlocked overhead to the ceiling or roof framing, whereby the whole house framing can be clamped together and tied to the foundation by a plurality of vertical metal elements which are distributed both internally and marginally about the house.

More particularly my invention contemplates, as its preferred type of wall splines, standard light channels and these, when paired and driven down together form, in the grooves provided to receive them, an l-l-shaped spline, the flanges ofwhich act as wedges to spring clamp the abutting wall unit edges so very tightly together that not only a weather tight joint results but also very strong compound reinforced load-bearing stud elements are provided as component parts of the assembled wall units, Single channels may be used for partition joints, so that from like metal stock the desired type of spline can be provided, and a standard spline may be used throughout.

My invention, in its preferred embodiment, contemplates forming the floor in sections, which include the sills, joists and flooring, with slots to register with the wall unit grooves so that the splines can be driven on down through the sills and anchored at their lower ends both to the sills and to the foundation walls. Also, in like manner, slots may be formed in ceiling joists, plates. or framing and the splines inserted freely therethrough and made fast thereto, preferably by the use of metal wedges driven home, and, if desired anchored against working loose.

My invention contemplates that the splines can be freed of anchors and wedges and withdrawn vertically to knock down the wall units and disassemble the house. 1

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of my invention will be hereinafter more particularly set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and which seek to illustrate only a typical embodiment of myimproved prefabricated building structure. In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a building prefabricated and assembled in accordance with my invention.

, Fig. 2 is a floor plan of said building showing the manner of subdivision of its walls into units.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section on the line III-III of Fig. 4.

Fig. dis a horizontal cross section, broken away to show a variety of wall and partition joints.

Fig. 5 is a detail view, broken away, of a typical spline and its associated top wedge and bottom anchor connection. I

Fig. 6 isan enlarged detail of the oint C of Fig. i.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated, I show concrete foundation walls ii, having anchored therein metal straps l shaped to fit about the framing pieces 3 and againstthe inner of the double floor sills and it. Sub-flooring ii and flooring it, are laid in any desired manner on the floor joists it, the sub-flooring being sawed off flush with the outer edge of the sill t.

The house or building may be of any type or design, that shown in Fig. 2 being a conventional floor plan for a four room, hall and bath house. In this plan the location of my improved type of stud joint assemblies will occur only at wall and partition intersections, it being contemplated that the wall units as prefabricated will extend across the sides or ends of one or more'rooms. As shown the wall units l'l, it, l9, ill, ill and 22 will comprehend the exterior walls of the house. Each unit comprises a framing having suitable horizontal floor and ceiling plates 23 and 23a and end sectional studs 24, all secured and braced together in any suitable way to form a rectangular frame work, with suitable framing for windows and doors all made up and set in accordance with standard construction practice. I apply an interior wall finish 25, of whatever kind desired, from top to, or substantially to, the bottom of each wall unit framing and from end to end thereof except opposite wall joints, and there finish 26 will seat flush therein.

, 23 and 23a, and any other member which might Exterior weather boards 30 are applied vertically to the wall unit framing and are jointed in accordance with any suitable construction, such as by a tongue and groove joint 30a. I cut an angled groove 21 in each of the doubled studs 24 of a unit frame, which grooves match to form a continuous T-slot opening outwardly through the center joint between matched studs at each end of the wall unit.

Having cut the grooves in the studs 24 of each pair, they are glued together with any suitable waterproof glue, preferably casine, thus forming a composite stud element of increased strength at the end of each panel with its T-slot running its entire length, it beinmunderstood that this form of notch can thus be readily cut with a standard wood working machine tool.

Referring now to the joint marked A in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, which is an exterior corner joint, it will be seen that the two wall units l1 and I6 are finish and capable of being placed or removed without disturbing such finish. This forms a tie for the studs running the entire length thereof and I have found this type of joint to resist pulling and distortion to a much greater degree than is the case when spiked or bolted construction is used. If desired, the slots may be cut slightly ofl square, or the flanges of the channels may beshaped to act as a wedge against the groove walls to tightly pull the joint faces together as the splines are driven home. In practice, however, the joint is sufiiciently sealed if the splines are merely snugly fitted into the T-grooves, and if it is contemplated that the building be disassembled, too tight a fit of the splines will make it difflcult to draw them. When cold rolled steel channels are used toform the splines, I get all desirable to tie the wall units to the foundation,

to each other, and also to provide in the vertical joints brace means that will tie the roof framing to the floor framing. In order to accomplish these three results, the webs of the splines are slotted, the lower ends at 3| and the upper ends at 32. The sills 9 and ill of the floor framing are notched out as at 33 and the strap 1 is notched at 34. When the wall and floor units are set in place and the splines have been driven down with their lower ends resting on or adjacent to the concrete foundation 6, the lower slots will come into alignment so that a locking pin 36, carrying notches 31 and 38 complementary to the notches in the spline and strap 1 may be inserted through the strap and through the webs of the channels forming the spline and into the floor sill notches 33.

The splines pass loosely through suitable slots 39 and 40 respectively in the horizontal plates be in line with the joint is also slotted so that the splines can freely pass therethrough when being inserted into or withdrawn from the spline rooves in the studs.

A wedge bar 4| rests'on the upper plate 43 of the ceiling and roof sections and extends through the top slot 32 in the spline webs, and when this bar is driven home (to the left in Fig. 3) it will draw the two channels forming the spline upwardly through the grooved studs causing the notches in the lower pins 36 to engage and interlock with the webs of the spline, the strap I, and the top of the notch-outs 33 in the floor sills, thus effectively tying the whole building framing both vertically and laterally together and to the foundation 6.

Referring again to Fig. 4, it will be seen'that the other joints illustrated are simply modifications of the joint clearly described, so that a detailed description of them is not necessary. The joint at B,Figs. 2 and 4, is a duplicate of the single joint at A, the wall leading therefrom being partition wall Ha instead of the exterior wall section l6.

The joint shown at C is a double form of joint and illustrates the method of connecting a partition to the exterior wall. The joint between the wall units l8 and i9 comes opposite the center of the partition wall l9a. A single channel spline 26 is here used to draw together the double studs 24 of the exterior wall sections l8 and IS, the grooves for this spline being cut in the outer stud members only. An H-groove is cut in the manner described in the meeting ends of the inner stud members of the outer wall sections I 6, I9, and the stud members at the outer edge of the partition wall unit I9a. Thus I use a double channel spline to tie the outer wall to the inner partition. In this arrangement the interior finish 25 is received in rabbets 26 formed in the outer edge of the studs ofrthe partition unit Ma, and between the rabbets the partition studs abut against the inner studs of the wall units. Thus using standard spline channels I tie all three sets of studs together at the double joint. A similar joint arrangement is provided between the partitions l'la, Illa and Nb, a single channel spline and a double channel spline serving to secure the several sets of studs in closely assembled relationship in this point. In connection with the joint C, the top wedge 4| can be driven through the single channel spline, and, if desired, such a wedge may also be driven through the double channel inner spline, but it is unnecessary to tie in the inner spline except for added strength in the joint. This inner spline can be readily interlocked at the bottom with the foundation by the use of the pin 36 secured in any suitable manner to the strap 1. In the case of interior partitions the splines do not require to be interlocked top and bottom to the framing, their function being to secure the aligning interlock that they provide for the partition joint. It will be understood, however, that the top wedge and lower interlock with the foundation can be used at every exterior joint regardless of whether the joint in the exterior wall be tied by a single or double channel spline.

If the interior finish 25 be of ply wood, as shown in Fig. 6, its edge at the joint C is left projecting about 2" over the rabbets 1'6 in the partition joint stud so that when the joint splines are driven down they will draw the joint stud members together and press their overhanging edges of the partition finish 25 against the finish II on the wall sections so tightly that it tends to crush the finish edges together and thus sate against cracks at the joints due tonkage oi the wall or partition framing.

The construction or a house using my improved pro-fabricated units or sections is substantially as follows:

The ioundation wall t is poured and levelled with the straps or plates l embedded therein opposite the wall section joints and bent to fit over the irame pieces t and against the sills it. l 'looring sections, preferably made up in half or whole room size, are prefabricated and each coprises sill sections t, it, ioists it, sub-flooring ii, flooring it, and notches it and it out in the sill sections. These assembled iloor units are trsported to, and set bodily upon the iodation walls t. e sub-structure is now ready to receive the wall sections which are set up thereon in place with theirioints brought completely together to avoid injury to the interior h it. The spline ways are brought intoalignment with notchouts it cut through the sub-flooring. The appropriate splines are now inserted in; the upper end oi the spline ways and are driven down through said spline ways, notchouts it and I plates iii in position to receive the upper ends oi the splines and center the ceiling sections with relation to the walls. It will be noted that the weather boards it extend above the plate ii and form abutnients which the ceiling framing engages and by which same is held in position. In like manner the root sections are preiabricated and elevated so that their plates it present their slots it over the-splines and engage the weather board abutments, whereupon same are lowered to place with the plates it resting on the ceiling plates t and the overhead traming held centered ready to be interlocked with the floor framing and foundation. This I accomplish by inserting the wedge plates ii through the top slots iii in the wall splines and as these wedges are driven in they engage the plates it and tend to force them down and to draw the splines up. As the splines are drawn up their bottom pins 35 will be lifted until their notches interlock them against removal with the spline and anchor straps l which occur by the time they engage the top walls of the sill slots it; whereupon, where the wedges it have been driven home, the splines will firmly clamp all of the house framing together and fasten it to the foundation wall i, so that they serve both to clamp and interlock all the framing sections together both on horizontal and vertical joint planes.

After thus being assembled, the usual gable finish, exterior trim and guttering are applied and any remaining inside trim is placed, such as molding, it same has not been embodied in the wall and partition sections as prefabricated.

I contemplate forming all openings for plumbing, electric wiring and the like at the factory, where the various sections are fabricated.

The weather board on gable sections is shown placed horizontally and in the standard overlapping relation, and the meeting of thissection with the vertical weather board may be sealed by means oiany suitable mold strip.

The glued joints in the sectional stud assemblies at each wall joint are indicated by the heavier division lines in Fig. 6 and it will be apparent that load bearing elements are thus provided at these joints that possess great strength to resist lateral stresses.

While I have shown my invention in several forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications, withmeans to interlock said splines and plates together and to the floor and overhead framing.

2. In a prefabricated building, wall sections comprising framing with end stud elements, continuous matching undercut grooves formed in the stud faces that abut at a wall section joint, floor framing, overhead framing, a foundation wall, anchor plates iast in the foundation wall, metallic spline elements conforming to said matched grooves and adapted to be driven down therethrough to tie wall sections together, and means to interlock said splines and plates together and to the floor and overhead framing comprising a wedge pin at the top and a notched pin at the bottom, the pin notches being disposed to be drawn by the sheet of the wedge on the spline into interlocked relation with both spline and anchor plate.

3. In a prefabricated building, wall sections comprising framing with end stud elements, continuous matching undercut grooves forming spline ways in stud faces that abut at a wall section joint, floor framing, ceiling framing, roof framing, a foundation wall supporting said floor framing, concealed splines in the form of light rolled channels engaged in said spline ways to interlock the wall sections and projecting into juxtaposition to said wall, floor and roof framings, concealed means to tie the splines to said wall and floor framing, and wedge means concealed above the ceiling framing to tie said splines to said roof framing.

4. A building comprising prefabricated wall sections continuous for room walls each of said sections comprising framing with end studs and wall finish complete, completely prefabricated fioor sections comprising framing and flooring, completely prefabricated ceiling sections comprising framing and interior finish, continuous matching grooves undercut along the abutting stud faces at wall joints to form spline ways with oppositely tapered faces on opposite sides of a joint, there being openings in the floor and celling sections that register with said spline ways, concealed channel splines with spring flanges inserted through said spline ways and openings and adapted to be spread apart by said taper faces to bring the whole joint under spring com pression, and means to interlock the splines below to the floor framing and above to the ceiling throughout their vertical Joints, a partition section comprising framing with end studs and wall finish, said section being centeredwith respect to a wall joint, spline ways and a spline to clamp the partition stud to the adjacent wall joint studs, and rabbets in the partition stud to seat a wall section interior finish flush with the end face of the rabbeted stud, the finish on the partition being left projecting enough beyond said rabbets to be brought under compression against the wall section finish by the clamping of the partition to the wall sections at a Joint.

6. In a prefabricated building, wall sections comprising framing with end stud elements, continuous matching undercut grooves formed in the stud faces .that abut at a wall Joint, floor sections comprising framing with sill members notched in line with said grooves, ceiling sections comprising framing with plate members notched in line with said grooves, metallic spline elements conforming to and adapted to be driven down through said grooves and notches, top and bottom slots in the spline elements, a wedge pin engaged in the top spline slot and seated on a plate member, pin slots in the sill members intersecting the spline slots, and foundation anchor plates disposed opposite said pin slots and slotted in line therewith, and a bottom pin inserted through aligning plate, sill and spline slots and having notches adapted to interlock it with the spline, and plate when the top wedge is driven in tight. I

ROSS T. HULSLANDER. 

